captioning sponsored by macneil/lehrer productions good evening, from the tampa bay form in florida, i'm judy woodruff. >> ifill: i'm gwen ifill, we welcome you to the republican national convention. tonight we will be bringing you the major speeches and other hatchings from the convention itself along with interviews with the delegates with party officials and other political

observers and analysts. your all access pass to the convention extends beyond our newshour sky box to the floor. to the back room and on-line where you can find or 24 hour live stream coverage of events inside and outside the hall. down on this floor tonight here in tampa as will be for all three nights of this convention is our own jeffrey brown. jeff, so they got this nomination process over with pretty quickly. they've selected their president and their vice president by acclimation and they're taking a break, is there any let down on the part of the dell gults that it's over except for the rest of the convention. >> brown: you know judy, the whole thing started a little strangely didn't it. a day's delay so a lot of people filling time. and then they got this thing going as you said earlier than we expected. they did it in a very very timely fashion i must say. they kind of raced through it. we were down on the floor and we would be talking to people in delegations and then they'd realize suddenly their state was

suddenly coming up so things were happening much faster than i think anybody expected. but these are scrint scrimentd . ron paul supporters would yell out free ron paul because they were getting a sense their guy wasn't get what deserved. >> those that were watching when mitt romney went over the top there were a lot of people excited about what was going on that floor and it involves the people you never heard of like the governor of wisconsin. >> brown: well there was great excitement of course because that was the moment when it was official. i was actually right near scott walker, wisconsin is, you know, i was at a wisconsin breakfast yesterday and they were joking about what's in the water in wisconsin although they say what's in the beer in wisconsin. because scott walker, with his big recall election, we covered

that one. big victory for him, big victory for republicans for the party and now of course paul ryan from wisconsin. that's the big news out of wisconsin. so they feel a great energy there. they maybe, maybe their state's in. >> ifill: i was going to say jeff, it used to be that the state that would put the nominee over the top would be that the home state or one of the really critical swing states. but in this case, it was new jersey, which isn't at this point anyway, a swing administrate. it's looking pretty democrat but it is the home state 06 one of the major speakers tonight. >> brown: that was a head scratcher judy. i don't know why. i'm with you. normally it's scripted and for the particular state either the home state of the nominee or a very important state in the election is given that honor. didn't happen this time. i don't think anybody quite understood why. but yes, chris christie is going to be the keynote speaker and we'll see. that's the last big speech of

the night. and the keynote speech is often part attack and part set up the nominee. and chris christie is perfectly capable of doing both. he's a great speaker, i think and we'll see what he delivers. but that's the one that we'll be watching after, after ann romney of course. >> ifill: jeff, it's interesting, there's not a lot of drama in these conventions anymore. people don't sit on the edge of their seats waiting to see who is going to win the nomination but all the whys and wherefore's really matter. i wonder how much of those disgruntled ll of ron paul are going to matter in the end and whether they are being sidelined. >> brown: it just got real loud down here as you can hear. >> ifill: i can tell. >> brown: that's a good question. it's a little hard to tell, judy, about that one. there were people coming up to me as it's walking the floor all day and they wanted to talk about how they felt kiesmed of

shut out. and you know, it was sunday when there was a very large 10,000 people rally for ron paul. and in a sense that was his moment and their moment. and they were very energized and they wanted to recognize what he's done. and he said to everyone, we've got a movement that walsh going to maintain. maintain -- we're going to maintain. they're at the convention. how are they going to maintain it. that's not very clear because he's not going to speak here. he's got a lot of supporters here and you hear pockets of people, you certainly heard it during the roll call. i think i said it earlier on the 6:00 show. when his numbers were not read out by the secretary, there would be a chance free ron paul. so they're voicing their opinions, they're letting everyone know that they're here but it's not really clear that they can have much impact beyond that. >> you're right, jeff. i mean it's one of those interesting things. i happen to be up here this afternoon pretaping an interview with speaker john baron and

spontaneously ronal paul showed up on the floor and he was mobbed by television camera cruise and by people. the delegates were here, it was around 2:00 the time in the day time convening of this convention. there's still a lot o excitement for him. it's not going to matter in terms of mitt romney. he still gets the nomination. y the one who is running against president obama but symbolically it's an interesting thing to see. >> brown: absolutely. he's a folk hero to a lot of people. especially judy more important to young people. a lot of people i talked to here in the party. the key issue is how do you attract and maintain the interest of these young people who are attracted to ron paul and not make them feel outsiders as though they've been shut out. how do you keep them as part of the party. how do you throw them into members of the party and how do you, especially now, how do you use the youthful energy they have in this selection.

so i think that's going to be a real test over the next couple months. clearly the convention is ground zero for that, at least for the first step in that. >thatwood. >> ifill: you can't see what we're looking at right now but that's ron paul from earlier in the afternoon on the floor of the convention. now thank you jeff, we'll be back with you in a moment. judy and i however will not be alone up here in our sky box. as always we'll be joined by news hours regulars mark shields and david brooks. signed sealed and delivered on yours. is there some significance of the song, david, what do you think? >> there are some words ann romney is spin cling out and it looks pretty good. >> woodruff: what do you mean by that. >> there are some effects and it's sort of things if she can pull it off she'll bring the

house down. >> ifill: is that what you do in the first night bring the house down. >> i think she will bring the house down, no question about it. she is the better half. the more human half, the more personal half. it's a rather remarkable couple. but it take me back to the 1988 convention of george herbert walker bush was nominated. they talked about a gesture. you're going to see a kinder gener mitt romney tonight. people in the hall do not have a sense of who he is. that's her job. >> the points for the delegates when you talk to them have been we're not warm and fuzzy, we just get the job done. they're not trying to oversell the kind her and gentler warm and fuzzy. >> ifill: we don't have to like you to elect you. >> as romney said in the interview you may not love me but i'll help the bottom line. >> ifill: it's the subject of a lot of conversation here and that is how much does mitt romney need to warm himself up,

need to make himself more likeable to american voters. and is it enough or is it enough just to say hey i'm the guy who can get the job done, i'm the guy who can go and create jobs we were just talk big in that last segment. >> 20 on 4 john kerry won all three degates against george w. bush and he won re-election. peter hart, the democrat pollster contradicted by republicans either. made the analysis that people preferred i like the iq. they were more comfortable with george w. bush. it was in a comfort level. i think there are two steps for the president challenger. the challenger has to make the case against the president seeking re-election but at the same time he has to reach a comfort level. the only time that hasn't happened judy in my adult lifetime is richard nixon. >> woodruff: in 2004 the issue was the war. now it's the economy. does that make it a tougher

hurdle for the president. not that the war -- it affected many families but this economy affects everyone. >> i think with the economy people have a much more tough minded mentality and a lot of it jusgethe j done. so i think it's a lower hurdle. romney's personal numbers are terrible and needs time. and so done pretty well with pretty bad personal numbers. and if he can get it up and someone whose followed him, he's a much better person than most people think. the question is how much can they communicate. >> ifill: won of the themes tonight is they seem to be reaching out to people who might change their minds. we'll hear from the former congressman from alabama who was the second nomination of barack obama four years agot t democratic national convention now has become a republican, moved to virginia and is speaking on behalf of mitt romney tonight. is there a realistic chance do the romney people think they had they can reach those folks who hasn't made up teir minds who are disappointed in barack

obama. >> i think that's a major theme of the romney campaign and several of their add ads latelyr their attack ads emphasize it's okay. >> ifill: outside spending. >> it's okay if you voted for barack obama. you don't have to dislike him, he's made his best effort, he's a decent man, a good family man but it's time for a change. >> ifill: do you think that's affected. >> i think they are important hoods. it depends how well done they are. i think it's a reasonable message if you're trying to run against the president that's more popular than you are and who is highly regarded and has had higher personal numbers. i do think today this follows a great trop disk as jeane kirkpatrick former democrat who went to san francisco democrats, you know, charlie crist is coming to the democratic

convention. >> ifill: returning the favor you could say. >> former republican going to charlotte. archer davis is a convert. >> ifill: one of the themes tonight is switchers. archer davis leads that group. there are a number of people speaking who say they change their mienltdz. >> ifill: he's african american, he's a harvard gruate. he fan seed himself to be close to broke. he'broke -- barack obama. he's nor valuable in some ways isn't he. >> he's tremendously valuable. harvard doesn't have a voice. and so you know he's arguing for that, being african american and for being you know someone who is close. and you meet people if you cover this race, you meet people every week who said i voted for obama, i'm not going to do it this time. so those people are out there. if romney's going to win he's going to have to get a chunk. >> let's go back to jeff on the floor. a few minutes ago he talked to

california congressman kevin mccarthy. he's the republican whip and that's an office not a tool in the house. jeff. >> brown: i'm here with kevin mccarthy one of the top leaderships in the republican congress. what do you think is the biggest challenge for the party here at the convention? >> i think our challenge is just delivering a message. a message of what we believe america should look like and moving forward. a lot of people still don't know mitt romney, do not knowis background and do not kw the history of job creation he's done or the person of who he is from a character setting. i think tonight's going to start that message. in fact there's some sense he's had, if he's had a problem it's connecting i guess with people, right and letting them know who he is. >> i don't know so much of connecting who he is. what we're dealing with now is we have a current sitting president and we know what his economic policies are and it's driving us in the wrong direction. so the cowan tree is now massachusettsing and saying let's look at mitt romney.

now is the opportunity to start laying out that message. you're going to get into the debate and getnto the election. now it's a layout what he believes america should look like and what direction he'd taken in. there are big contrasts in the background of these two individuals from what he did for job creation to what the president's done. i think those are good contrasts and good policy messages for the country to look at and debate and see which way they want to do. >> brown: i want to talk to you about your colleague paul ryan, right. one of the young, of your generation, i guess, right, young power 40usz an houses ando the nominee o vice president. what do you think that gives to the ticket? >> i think it gives so much enthusiasm. paul's one of the young guns, one of the organizations paul and myself and cantor started. one thing about paul when you get to know him, this is the man who has the courage, the heart can conviction and most importantly the brain to put us on a good economic path.

with what's different with him is he does not demonize the other side. he does not go after character assassination. he talks about policy that debates it. when the country gets to know him they're going to fall in ve with him and most important fall into the love with the idea of not politics but putting people first. >> brown: what about when they get to know the details about his policy. there's a potential for controversy, right, over what he wants to do with medicare, what he wants to do with other government programs. >> you're going to love it because he's the only person out here that's willing to fight to save medicare. everybody else is ignoring it and it's going to go bankrupt. you look at the budget. the president has gotten no votes. the senate democrats don't even propose a budget. paul proposes a budget. he has the heart and courage to pick on big issues butffers solution. and he's fil willing to do it wh democrats as well. a lot of the legislation that helps save medicare is bipartisan. when the country gets to hear about the real plan they'll like it instead of the demonizing of

the politics to try to destroy somebody for offering an idea. >> brown: one more thing. he does come from congress. now congress, with due respect, not all that popular. >> yes but he is so anti-congress. he's the guy that's been trying to change it. and i think that's what, if you look at his background and what he's thought for. you look at his own district. he comes from a democrat district. he comes from a middle class democrat district that obama has carried. he's able to listen and reach independent democrats. i just hope he gets the opportunity to go across this country and others get to know him because they're going to really like him. >> brown: kevin mccarthy, thanks so much. >> thanks jeff. congressman mccarthy of course is a loyal lieutenant to house speaker john baron wh baron boew on the floor speaker of the house of representives.

>> delegates, alternates, ladies and gentlemen, the convention will be in order. it begins tonight with a fundamental question. can we do better. the answer in my view is obvious. you bet we can. the american people are still asking the questions, where are the job. president obama only offers excuses instead of answers. his record is a shadow of his rhetoric. yet, he has the nerve to say that he's moving us forward and the audacity to hope that we're going to believe him. allow me to illustrate. i'm what you call a regular guy with a big job. i've got 11 brothers and sisters, indemnify da my dad and

a bar in cincinnati. i grew up there mopping floors, waiting tables and tending bar. ably me when i say i know how to deal with every character who walked into the door. let me say right now some guy walked into our bar full of guys looking for work having a tough go of it and the guy said well the private sector's doing fine. do you know what we do? that's right, we throw them out. think about this. a guy walks into our bar full of people paying more for healthcare, paying more for gas, paying more for everything an this guy would say, well, we're better off than what we would have been. well you know we'd do? we'd throw him out. now the guy walked into our bar full of folks who couldn't tell, couldn't tell you the last time they got a raise or their house was above water. and the guy said well we tried our economic plan and it worked. you know what we'd do.

we'd throw him out. now let's say a guy walked into our bar and before he could say anything he overheard a regular telling his story. tissues outurns out this guy ral business, got involved in it while he was in school. then out of no where his business partner died. they had just one customer. so he went through sleepless nights and close calls and he made it thank god, paid their dues proud of what they managed to do. a guy walks in the bar heard that story and says well, if you got a business, you didn build that. well you know what we'd do with him don't you? we'd throw him out. by the way, that small business guy is my story. that was our business and we did build that. but you know, it could have just

as easily been the story of anyone whose built something from nothing. no guarantees, no government there to hold your hand. just a dream and the desire to do better. president obama doesn't get is. he can't fix the economy because he gn doesn't know how it was built. so in 70 days when the american people walk into the voting booth, what should we do? should throw him out. because we can do better, we can do a lot better. and it starts with throwing out the politician who doesn't get it and electing a new precede whpresidentwho does. mitt romney comes from a family of builders. his father built houses, built businesses, built industry. george romney was a can-do kind of guy and he was fond of the whole saying that when things are at their worst, that's just the place and the time that the

tide will turn. well delegates, this is that time and this is that place. [cheers and applause] we're here to preserve this country the same way we built it, by exercising our god-given right to set a new course. so who wetter t better to turn e than a man dead gated his career for doing just that, for the stage and businesses and olympic games. president romney, boy i like the sound of that. president romney will keep his word and he'll keep his courage too. he'll keep faith with the idea that government exists to serve the people and that people who built this economy. mitt's job will build a stronger middle class through energy and dependence, schools and kids not where the teacher's union comes first, free trade, the balanced budget and an answer to the uncertainty and the tax hikes

that threaten small businesses. it's a big job. so we're fortunate that myth hat chosen his running mate by rooting out and fixing washington's first habits. when i met paul ryan he was a student at miami, ohio volunteering for my campaign for congress. soon he will be our party's nominee for vice president of the united states. who says this isn't the greatest country on earth? [cheers and applause] you know they call this america's come-back team. i need a good come-back, i need some true believers. if you believe we can do better, if you want your children and our children to have a stronger more prosperous america, then mitt romney and paul ryan need your help. because we cannot turn this tide only though if all of us are all

in all of the time. all the way until the 6th of november. it starts here with the convention that will lead to victory for our party and more importantly victory for our people and a great cause of freedom. god bless you. [cheers and applause] >> those were the remarks of house speaker john boehner, just concluded a few moments ago. right now we're going to join in progress priebus, the chairman of the republican party after chairg the gop. >> he just asked how can i help. that's the mark of a true leader. a humble focus on getting the job done. mitt romney spent his life turning around failing enterprises. america needs a turnaround,

specifically we need barack obama to turn around and go back to chicago. [crowd cheering] guys, let me tell you about my friend paul ryan. a man of true integrity, he doesn't descend into the gutter politics of the other side. he rises above it and charts a better path. he's my buddy, my congressman. and i can't wait to call him our next vice president. and hey, won't it be nice to have a second in command who can spend his days doing more than just prying his foot out of his mouth?

paul and janet's three children are the lights of their lives. and congress. paul doesn't worry about his political future. he worries about the future of his children in the same way sally and i worry about the future of our two kids, jack and grace. their future is in jeopardy because president obama has added $5 trillion to the national debt for all of our children to pay off. that's unacceptable. our founders didn't declare our independence, only to see us become dependent on the borrowed money of foreign nations. we still have time to chart a better course. if barack obama gets four more years, it might be too late.

we're not just spending borrowed money, we're living on borrowed time. look at the record of the outgoing administration. 23 million americans struggling for work. 42 months of unemployment above 8%. the worst jobs record since the great depression. it's time to elect mitt romney show we can get moving on the great america come back. [cheers and applause] now, the obama appall jitionz ie maybe stream media say it's not his fault. we have news for the media.

we knew that things were bad, but that's no excuse for making things worse. four years ago, barack obama was an unproven leader. well today he's proven himself. he's proven that he's not up for the job. mitt romney and paul ryan will be up to the job on day one. [cheers and applause] like paul ryan, i'm from wisconsin, where republicans have done pretty well in recent years. well here's why. because we govern like we campaign. we made promises and we kept promises. that's what americans want. leaders of their word.

well, president obama, as we all know, is a man of many words but he's not a man of his word. he broke his promise to cut the deficit in half. and he broke his promise to fix the economy. and adding insult to injury, he actually attacks success. this president looks down on american free enterprise. as speaker boehner just said, the president said if you got a business, you didn't build that. we do build it, right? [crowd cheering] that makes me think, that makes me think that barack obama has a problem with the american dream.

i grew up in a place called cause kenosha, wisconsin. my dad was an electrician and he retired from the unified school district. you know when we drove through the town, he didn't point to that big beautiful house on the corner, and my dad didn't say hey, look at these lousy people over here. he did what every one of your parents did, he said listen up, pal. if you work hard and you go to school, you're going to be in that house. and mom and dad, well, we pray that it's three times bigger. no parent in america, democrat or republican wants the kind of

negative glass empty view of america that president obama is trying to sell. we're the party that celebrates success. we're the party. we're the party that believes in the american dream and wants all of our children to have a chance to succeed. so, this convention is an invitation to all americans to join us as we fight for a better future. this is our generation's rendezvous at destiny. this is our generation's time for choosing if you believe that america can do better than the last four years, we stand with you. if you believe the next generation deserves a shot at

the american dream, mitt romney and paul ryan stand with you. we are so blessed to be here together. we're going to have a great week. i thank you all for being here, and god bless you. thank you very much. thank you. >> we've been listening to the chairman of the republican party, reince priebus with some pretty tough words for president obama. no surprise, david, gwen and mark. barack obama had a problem with the american dream and that was just maybe among the milder comments that he had. >> there's the head of the american enterprise arthur brookses no relation to me but he's the formulation of earned success that america's built on the idea you earn it and you get success. it's interesting how the word success has become a cultural signal here and in a lot of speeches already today, success

is something we admire. those people don't admire it. we work hard and had small struggling businesses john boehner said and we achieve success. a lot of republicans feel that's under threat so that's one of the concept of earned success is something they've been hitting again and again and again. >> we do build things and president obama said we've been taking it he's been saying on the campaign trail triggering a real talking point, you didn't build that. in context he meant something more. >> no, he did. and one of the few times actually stressed himself. honey said of saying you know we we -- instead of saying we take great provide in the succes prid imagination to do it you know we're a large part of a larger family that we all do this. as americans under the american law, american schools and so forth, it didn't come across that way. they grabbed that opportunity and they've used it. >> we're going to hear a lot

more of that. jeff brown is on the floor. jeff. >> brown: judy, gwen and i were talking early in the program about the one note here so far having to do with ron paul supporters. so an interesting thing just happened. we were walking over to the main delegation to do an interview, and nobody was there. it turns out that much of the main delegation has walked out of the convention and we've been told some members of the phoenix and severatexasand other delega. here with me he's what's going on. it's affecting our dell gults are counted. >> basically what's happening is we are going to -- what the republican national committee has done is that they've eliminated the possibility for activists to actually, like we did with ron paul, it will never happen again. this is not going to happen again because they're going to

accept straw polls as the actual votes for delegates to represent the republicans. and so for example in the county that i was in, there's no way we would have ever won. it wouldn't happen. >> brown: so how oranged is this among ron paul supporters is there's a walk out of one delegation. are there a lot of people involved in this at this point it could grow. >> yes. there's actually talk in the blogs sphere about forming another party. about forming another party. >> brown: so that would mean clearly impacting the support of mitt romney in this selection. >> it would drastically impact the support of mitt romney in this selection. >> brown: there's going to be a sense here from the party that hey, this is all happening. it's a done deal now and it's time to get in line. and if you support the party, you got to support the nominee. >> see, here's the problem. everyone's talking about democrats and republicans and it's not about democrats and republicans, it's about creditors and debtors.

and see the ron paul people realize that and it's not about ron paul, it's just about the ideas. and so the thing is that you know, all of the creditors, international bankers are running the show and now they get to make the rules and choose -- before this thing started, they wanted to have the nominees choose the delegate. that's absolutely ridiculous. they don't like the delegates, they get to choose the delegates but they backed down in the last seconds. it's absolutely corrupt and ridiculous. >> brown: all right. gary higher of minnesota, thanks a lot. that's a little tails of one -- one taste of what's going on down here. back to you guys. >> it's interesting this whole idea of whole delegations walking out because of what seemed like minor reflecting the ron paul delegates. he had 177 delegat. wh's gng o he david. >> i automatically assume the ron paul people will be invisibly folded into the republican party. that clearly is not happening. it's a lot of people, a thought of enthusiasm and a lot of

people. it raises the possibility it could become the raffl ralph nad the spotlight will shift. does he say support mitt romney or does he say no we are something different. it will be fascinating to see how he reacts to it. >> ifill: it's n about ron paul it's a personality issue. >> woodruff: talk about what is happening is absolutely corrupt. there's clearly more than just momentarily upset here. >> there is, judy. i don't know how deep or wide it is. but this goes back to a question of who does pick the delegates. does the candidate. and if somebody runs under a candidate's name, i think the candidate really does with all due respect to this ron paul people, a candidate has that film call. you're going to run for select hundred to a primary to david

brooks and you are the local troublemaker or whatever else. david brooks has a right to pick and i really do think this is a problem that is a real one. what they're arguing about is how barack obama actually won the nomination in 2008. the paul people showed up in caucuses in great numbers and the romney people, a measure of passion and intensity and that's what barack obama beat hillary clinton and that's why ron paul showed. >> they're playing i want you to want me. i want you to want me. it's not happening with ron paul. >> woodruff: subliminal message that's not so subliminal. we've been led to believe this is kind of settled that ron paul was not going to make a big deal out of it but it looks like his fans are going to make a big deal out of it. >> if you heard the language from the diswra from minnesota about the bankers. >> if that's your suspicion, mitt romney is your answer. that suggests some of the debt

philosophical and emotional differences. >> the question i all had about the ron paul voters is whether they really are republicans. whether they actually show up or whether they would just stay home and it would be a wash. >> well if you go to a ron paul event, and hear ron paul's position endorsed by one corner of the world when he talked about, when he talked about afghanistan and iraq and the united states militarism and another part of the r5078 when e talked about government being smaller and individual freedom, you would hear the marijuana legalization folks cheering. sit is a quilt. it's not a homogeneous group. >> we're about to here a video from the mayor of saratoga springs in utah. let's take a look. >> i remember she looked at me very seriously and she said mia, your mother and i have done everything to get you to where you are right now. we have never taken a handout. we have worked hard for

everything we've had to personal responsibility. you will not be a burden to society, you will give back. my favorite part of running for congress hands down talking to people and meeting with people. i love utah. i mean look how beautiful this is. we live in the greatest place in the world. my heroes are my parents, my husband and my children. they understand that they've got dream and all they want to do is fulfill those dreams. washington needs a little bit more of that. >> if i were to start listing the things she was involved in, her role as mayor, her participation and service in our local church, she teaches fitness classes. she makes our home a wonderful place and helps me as a partner to raise our children and to teach them good principles. she's very talented.

her mind works very quickly. >> we're going to do one. good news is, you'll be happy when it's done. i am passionate about running, i'm passionate about having a healthy life. not about how healthy you are in life it's about howstronger and how much inducer yo endurance y. disthings are worth it. if i can describe freedom in one word, it would be the ability to make decisions and reap the benefits of those decisions or suffer the consequences. if i could go to washington tomorrow and change one thing, it would be to restore the power and the decision-making back to the people. it's not government's responsibility to save our country. it's up to us to save our country. what makes america grt is this idea that we are free. free to work, free to live, free to choose and free to fail. because our failures make us

better. i have to say i have no regrets being where i am and i love my life. i'm mia love and i'm running for congress. >> i am thrilled that you are here in support of mitt romney. let me tell you about the america i know. my parents immigrated to this country with $10 in their pockets and a hope that the america they heard about really did exist. when tough times came, they didn't look to washington, they looked within. so the america i grew up knowing was centered in self reliance and stilled with the possibilities of living the

american dream. [cheers and applause] the america i know is grounded in the determination found in patriots and pioneers. in small businesses with big ideas. it's found in the farmers who work in the beauty of our landscape and our heroic military. it's found in the olympic athletes and every child who looks at the seemingly impossible and says, i can do that. that's the america i know. [crowd cheering] president obama's version of america is a divided one. often pitting us against each other based on income level, gender and social status. his policies have failed us. we're not better off than we were four years ago and no rhetoric, bumper sticker or

hollywood campaign ad can change that. [crowd cheering] mr. president, i'm here to tell you the american people are awake and we're not buying what you'ryou're selling in 2012. [crowd cheering] the american dream isn't just my story. it isn't just your story. it's our story. it's a story of human struggle standing up and striving for more. our story has been told for over 200 years with mall step small d giant leaps. from a woman on a bus to a man with a dream. from the bravery of the greatest generation to the innovators and entrepreneurs of today. this is our story.

this is our america. this is the america we know because we built it. [crowd cheering] [crowd chanting usa. >> thank you. with paul ryan, with mitt romney as president and paul ryan as vice president, we can restore and revive that america, that american story we know and love. the world will know it. our children will tell it and our grandchildren will possess it for years to come.

god bless america. this is our time. we are truly the best last hope on earth. thank you. [crowd cheering] >> mia love, they're very excited about her. she is by the way challenging incumbent in a brand new district in utah. jiljilljim matheson, the encumbe not very popular. what is it about mia love people love so much. >> she's a star. very good video. i thought a very good speech. if you got a game around it, we've built it. but she gave a very forceful speech and this is a story and again that's the concept of

struggling that you pay for it and it's all about you and your work. it's that immigrant. she delivered from the heart. >> jim matheson is the only democrat elected in the most republican state in the union. >> ifill: the son of a former governor. >> he survived a number but this is a tough challenge. i would say what the republicans are trying to do is steal what barack obama's biography was. barack obama is to americas many the personification and validation of the american dream. the single mother who came from no where with no sponsorship, no pedigree, no special promise. and achieved it and america affirmed it. this is kind of the running rhetoric here is no, no, we're the american dream, we're the lastest hope. i hope they're going to hear

gratitude. >> there's a tough mind in this. difficult things are not easy but they're worth it and running up the hill, i'm not sure if it's on the next treadmill over there. but we've seen that in boehner and we've seen it continually and it may be well attuned to hard times that you are going to suffer. and life is not pleasant but you work through it and you work through it on your own. as she said, she was the going to become a burden on society. that's pretty tough rhetoric. >> totally the polar opposite rhetorically from one of the great moments of the democratic speech to hear america's a family we share our burdens we share our blessings and we can write each other's successes and we console each other. this is not the message, there's a countermessage to that. >that. >> ifill: let's thank you more what's happening in congress especially these people with new faces who are actually challenging, who are actually challenging. judy's over there with gauze of

the boston political report and our gre political e editor. >> woodruff: we'll be talking with you and christina over the days of this convention. we've just heard this really remarkable candidate from the state of utah, daughter of haitian immigrants. and christina, this is different for the republican party to be putting someone forward like this as a candidate for congress. >> absolutely. and not just her speaking on the stage but very biographical video sitting there and looking as one of the stars of the party. she's in a competitive race here with congressman jim matheson. he's a democrat obviously so they are really trying to showcase her as one of the younger fresher faces of the party. she's one you'll see continually out on the campaign even though she's from a state like utah not considered a battle ground state. >> woodruff: the political report. how much diversity is there in

the republican members of congress right now. >> i think it's growing. it's slowly growing but it's something that they're trying to get through this recruiting class. it's not just mia love. meone like rcky gill in california. so they are trying to cycle by cycle grow the minority base of the republican party and the faces within the party. >> woodruff: why do they think that's important. >> in part, when you look at polls you have the president and the majority of african american votes and the majority of hispanic voters. they really have been showing this tonight with the theme of the economy. what we're looking at here as well the economy touches everyone. it doesn't matter what your demographic is and that's something you've heard continually from the romney campaign saying we're going to showcase the storis. but of course they're going to showcase some of the parties we hear from sandoval who is hispanic and the louisiana governor bobby as well. >> woodruff: nathan, we talked earlier this afternoon to house speaker john boehner and

he says he is feeling much more confident that the republicans are going to hang on to their majority in the house. what does it look like from your perspective. you're looking at these races every day. >> me la mia loves the race agat jim matheson. republic has go chace holding the house. democrats need to hold the seats. jim matheson and democrats have to spend money to help bring him back to congress and that's less money they can spend to feeding the republicans. >> woodruff: what does that race look like right now. >> it's a pure toss up. you have one of those strongest republican recruits to give one of the strongest democratic incumbents. remember this is utah. mitt romney is going to pull numbers like you never seen before. these aren't john mccain numbers, these are mitt romney numbers and mattson has to get those voters. >> woodruff: that's important around the country. >> you will be hearing that with congressman paul ryan. that's the democrats trying to win the 25 seats.

trying to use them in local races but it really matters where you do that. it might matter in pennsylvania for example where a lot of the voters are older and potentially awe of coursed by medicare more than say utah or california. that's where democrats seize the opportunities but the republicans will be showcasing their best candidates because they are going to be able to pick off some of those seats which makes that democrats candidates they need. >> woodruff: what is the outlook for the current tre coua whole. this is something you're looking all the time and the projections change from week to week. what does it look like. democratic pick up, republican pick up, a complete one known. what do you think. >> i think in the house it's most likely there's a small democratic gain. we'll have a republican house. the senate is truly up for grabs. there are nerve -- i think no matter which way you look at it we're going to have a very closely divided got because the margins andajoties.

>> woodruff: in the house the republicans picked up 65 seats. so there's a gay in the house. no wonder they may lose a few seattle even if it's seats even. >> there are weaker freshmen who won. because the president is so polarizing it's going to make it tough for democrats to make that change argument. >> woodruff: what's going on at the presidential level typically mean in these congressional and senate races. >> it's really different from what you saw in 2008. 2008 every congressional candidate wanted to be seen with president obama. they were appearing at rallies lining up to see him. you go to ohio and see for our five candidates. now not every candidate wants to be there because of that polarization. but in part they are looking at what matters. look at new hampshire for example where both members of congress, that was a big switch from what happened in 2008, 2006

those seats turned over in 2010. that couldappen agin if the president does well. these are all a lot of mix and matching when you look at the gatlbattle ground. >> woodruff: this is something we'll look at. cells tina and our political editor, nathan gonzales with the political report. >> ifill: you and i have covered a lot of convechtz and wconventions andwe have a lots . we decided to ask other folks for their favorite convention moments as well and we'll show you all week long. first up. >> what my favorite moment was when i heard sarah palin speak because she really electrified the audience. and at one time in our speech. this was just the alaskan vention in minneapolis, she really electrified that room. her teleprompter was not working right and she was ad libbing and

that's when she did her famous lipstick on a pig joke and the crowd was just going wild. john mccain needed that game changer. mccain says he was glad he picked her, she became an international figure. i like effect lying moments when you're in a crowd with just a few thousand of your closest friends. >> ifill: you're listening on the dance floor -- on the convention floor. it deals like a dance floor. we have been watching a lot 06 conventioofconventura long the . how about you david, what do you think is your favorite convention moment. does one come to mind. >> the obvious one, the barack obama moment, the mario cuomo speech. i like the unexpected and the one i'm coming back to is a weird one. i was walking down the hall in the middle of the afternoon and al sharpton had given like 6 minutes and he took 27 minutes and he was fabulous.

it was an unexpected speech. i'm sure the people organizing the convention were ripping their hair out. he went off script but he's a good speaker. you could see suddenly the whole crowd, something important is happening. those unexpected thing that drive thestablishment craz >> ifill: how about you mark. >> the most historic moment and i wasn't there but reading it and hearing it was hubert humphrey's 1948 speech at the democratic national convention to take up civil rights for the first time. the party had not, it had been a party that was on a solid -- >> ifill: sorry to interrupt you. we're going back to the podium to a small business owner running for governor. >> two years ago i would never have imagined i would be here with you tonight speaking at the republican national convention. i've sn tse on tv. what an honor to be with you tonight. i'm a mother from delaware.

a co-owner with my husband, a first state manufacturing. and after this november, i plan on taking on a new title. the next lieutenant governor of the great state of delaware. [crowd cheering] tonight is my honor to talk abouthe three tings that inspired me to run for office. my family, the business we built and my belief in america's unlimited potential. but it starts with a wonderful story. shortly after our son was borne, my husband and i received some news that would change our lives forever. we learned our son simon was autistic. we loved him with every fiber of our being. but the experts told us not to expect much. your son will never learn to

read, write or communicate